Following the massive success of the Zuk Z1, Lenovo has decided to unveil its elder sibling with much better and heftier specs. The company plans on launching Zuk Z2 with a spectacular set of specs and a stunning design language. The second generation of the handset will continue exactly from where its predecessor left off and will bring high-end features at a price much below par.
So what exactly makes Zuk Z2 unique in the mid-end smartphone market? Is it the power of Snapdragon 820 or the massive room that you get with 64 gigs of inbuilt storage? The device surely has a lot on offer, but there must be some cutbacks to bring high-end specs into such a tempting price bracket. Well, no need to worry, we’ll let you know whether it is worthy of the price or not.
Here’s what you’ll be getting with Lenovo Zuk Z2 coming to India:
Table of Contents
Design and Build Quality
Zuk Z1 is a brilliant piece of craftsmanship so does its elder sibling. The device features a slightly curved 2.5D scratch-resistant glass with a sturdy metal frame and looks extremely premium from all angles. Its glass back comes with an anti-fingerprint coating, but after using the handset for some time, you might witness a few finger marks on the back of the Zuk Z2.
It does boast a lean profile but the build quality of the volume rockers and the power button was not found to be very impressive. The buttons have well-defined pressure points, but they were too wobbly when compared with other premium handsets in the market.
Display and Viewing Experience
If you’re looking for a vivid visual experience, the display bundled with Lenovo Zuk Z2 will certainly live up to your expectations. The handset features a 5.0-inch LTPS full-HD high-res display with 441 pixels per inch. It endows punchy and vibrant color tones and looks fairly bright even when you’re playing under broad daylight. Though this display might not take on the Galaxy S7 or LG G5, it has got all the good to do your job nicely. It’s sharp and quite immaculate as well!
Processor and Performance
Moving a step ahead, Lenovo Zuk Z2 makes use of Qualcomm’s recent flagship Snapdragon 820. The device handles multitasking effectively and pairs up the quad-core chipset with 4 gigabytes of RAM, Adreno 530 GPU, and 64 gigs of inbuilt storage. It does give you two high-clocked cores for enhanced power, but for users with moderate needs, two low-clocked cores running at 1.6GHz hold more than enough power for seamless work and play. Even if you’re playing high-end games with enhanced graphics, Adreno 530 GPU would handle smoothly without any lag or performance issue.
Along with enhanced hardware, Zuk also deploys an “Overclock Mode” for better performance. When enabled, this unique mode overclocks the processor and gives short performance boosts from time to time. It overclocks the chipset from 2.15GHz to 2.30 GHz and adds up the required power to bear hefty usage. You may not see any big changes but browsing can certainly become smoother with this superb power boosting mode.
Camera Quality
Zuk Z2, with its 13-megapixel rear autofocus shooter, offers crisp and highly detailed images. The handset performs nicely in low-light environments and delivers lifelike images with superb focus speed and minimal shutter lag. It packs a 1/2.6″ Samsung ISOCELL sensor with each pixel measuring 1.34 µm and is nicely backed by Optical Image Stabilization and a super vibrant dual-tone flash. Overall, we can say the photo quality and the camera’s dynamic range are so good that you can take bright and high-contrast shots without any noise.
Even the front-facing camera has got all the goods. Lenovo has used an 8-megapixel sensor on the other end with an aperture as wide as f/2.0. It promises vibrant and color-rich selfies, but video captured might look as good as you’d have expected. Long story short, the camera is good, but definitely not the best in the sub-20k price bracket.
Software and UI
For smooth and lag-free performance, Lenovo Zuk Z2 runs Android 6.0 based ZUI 2.0 out-of-the-box. The interface featured on this handset is an extension of what we witnessed on Zuk Z1. It is a little less bloated, but the overall look and feel are still far from vanilla Android.
There’s no app drawer, and you can find elements of Apple’s iOS like the appearance of the settings menu, multi-tasking view, and shortcuts on the screen’s lower edge. The UI looks complete on the whole, but if you’re expecting stock-like performance, start looking for other options.
Battery Life
Last but not least, Lenovo has used an immensely powerful 3,500 mAh battery on Zuk Z2. The device holds enough juice to handle an entire day of hefty usage with lots of calling, social networking, and multitasking. It stands out against most phones in the sub-20k price bracket and delivers approximately 12 hours of usage with Wi-Fi and data networks running. Zuk’s performance, in terms of battery backup, is not the best but it definitely makes up a decent package when you’re running on a tight budget.
The Z2 also includes Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 tech, which recharges the phone from 0 to 100 percent in approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. A single 15-minute charge with this tech could give you around 3 hours of juice on ZUK Z2.
Final Verdict
Inside out, Lenovo ZUK Z2 makes an enticing package for all the tech-buffs out there. The handset includes everything of importance and does not cuts down anything to achieve the price. Yes, the UI could have been better, but that’s something we are willing to accept for a device with high-end internals and a very premium design language. It even rocks with a camera and yields good image quality with fine details. The takeaway, Zuk Z2 is a very good smartphone, especially when it comes to the mid-end price bracket.
